Pride Flag to Fly on Space Needle After All

After first saying they wouldn't fly the rainbow flag during Pride Weekend, then saying it would only be flown if people raised $50,000 for charity, representatives for the Space Needle Corporation have finally changed their tune completely.

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In a new statement the SNC says that the flag will fly, no strings attached.

As for the $50,000 that people have already been raising, the company says that it wants folks to keep raising money, and that it will will go to charities like GSBA Scholarship Fund and Lambda Legal.

The SNC statement puts an interesting spin on what was not one but two PR blunders--saying they wouldn't raise the flag, then demanding that $50,000 be raised--and instead attempts to frame it all as a big misunderstanding.

Here's the full statement.

We are thrilled to report that since Monday we have raised more than $13,000 towards our goal of $50,000 for LGBT charities.

Our sincere intention is to reach out to the LGBT community to raise money for these important organizations and to proudly fly the Pride flag on the top of the Space Needle. We are on our way to our fundraising goal and will be just as excited as the community to see the Pride flag raised on the Space Needle. Please join us in this effort to raise $50,000 or more for the GSBA Scholarship Fund, Lambda Legal, It Gets Better, and Mary's Place!

This is not the first time the Space Needle has organized fundraisers for the community. We had a competition between the Huskies and the Cougars in which the school with the most donations was honored with their flag on the Space Needle. We raised more than $160,000 for the Habitat for Humanity during this fundraiser in less than 14 days. We have challenged many charitable organizations to raise money for humanitarian causes such as our Tree for All holiday project to light our tree at the base of the Needle.

This current fundraiser is a way to raise money for people in the LGBT community who especially need it, such as helping LGBT students pay for college, giving LGBT youth the support they need to keep from contemplating suicide, providing homeless women a safe LGBT friendly place, and providing legal representation to LGBT persons and causes. This was a way the Space Needle could not only raise the Pride flag, but give back even more to the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender community.

The Needle has turned down 8 requests this year alone, but it is because of the overwhelming support for this cause that created the opportunity for us to lead the fundraising for these organizations. Again, our sincere intention is to reach out to the LGBT community to help raise money for these important organizations and to proudly fly the Pride flag on the top of the Space Needle. Please join us!